Odds quickly improving for Internet café ban

Published: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 1:13 p.m.

Sheriff Ben Johnson has some advice for the owners of the Internet cafes that weren't shut down this week as part of a three-year federal and state investigation into illegal gambling.

"Take the money and run."

The Volusia County sheriff's suggestion seemed like a timely bet Friday.

Just two days after investigators raided and shut down seven cafes in Volusia and Flagler counties and dozens more statewide affiliated with Allied Veterans of the World, the odds against the strip-center gaming parlors were spinning faster than a slot machine reel.

On Friday, a Florida House committee voted 15-1 on a bill that would ban Internet cafes. Sen. John Thrasher expects the Senate will fast-track his similar bill after it's taken up in a committee Monday. The measure could be ready for Gov. Rick Scott's approval by the end of the month.

"I think the governor's ready to sign it as soon as it gets to his desk," said Thrasher, the St. Augustine Republican whose district includes Flagler and northeast Volusia County.

The new legislation would make it easier for law enforcement agencies to close illegal gambling operations, the sheriff said. Though he was proud his agency played a part in this week's multi-state investigation, loopholes in the law have made it difficult to pursue similar cases.

"It's very complicated," Johnson said. "There's a lot of unnecessary hoops you have to jump through (to prove a case)."

Since Wednesday's closures, Johnson said he's received calls from a couple of other Internet café operators. He warned them the next case won't take three years to build.

"We're going to go after them," he said.

The House bill approved Friday clarifies that the Web-based gambling devices used in the cafes are illegal. The games operate under gray areas of the law designed for raffles held by charities or sweepstakes-style games commonly used as promotions by businesses like McDonald's and Coca-Cola.

"These machines have always been illegal," Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, the bill's sponsor, said at Friday's committee meeting in Tallahassee. "They're considered games of chance. They're illegal."

Proving it, though, isn't easy. Investigators needed to bring in experts to help prove that the games were illegal.

The Legislature has been slow to act. While the House passed a similar bill last year, it was never taken up by the Senate. Before this week, lawmakers were pushing a moratorium that would prevent new cafes from opening — which, critics noted, would have had the effect of making those already in existence even more profitable.

Then came Wednesday's closure of 49 cafes and the filing of charges against 57 people with ties to the St. Augustine charity, including 11 locally; investigators' allegation that less than 2 percent of Allied Veterans' $300 million in proceeds over five years actually went to charity; the resignation of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who had done consulting work for the company as a lawmaker; and the revelation that Allied Veterans' backers contributed more than $1 million to Florida campaign accounts. (The Republican Party of Florida announced Friday it would donate $300,000 to the Florida Veterans Foundation.)

Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, who cast the lone dissenting vote at Friday's committee meeting, questioned the timing of the bill — made public Thursday night — more than the intent. He called the proposal a "knee-jerk reaction" to the week's events.

"We ought to be looking at regulating all forms of gambling in the state of Florida," Waldman said.

For longtime critics of the operations, even this week's speedy turnaround isn't fast enough.

"They should have never opened," said Dan Francati, who manages the Daytona Beach Kennel Club & Poker Room. The Internet cafes don't pay the taxes his business does, Francati said. And players who feel cheated have nowhere to turn.